Once again Nancy Drew is involved in a mystery as she tries to locate an archaeologist who disappeared with the clues to a buried treasure.

Terry Scott, a young archaeology professor, seeks Nancy’s help in unearthing a secret of antiquity which can only be unlocked by three black keys. While on an archaeological expedition in Mexico, Terry and Dr. Joshua Pitt came across a clue to buried treasure. The clue was a cipher carved on a stone tablet. Before the professor had time to translate the cipher, the tablet disappeared – along with Dr. Pitt! Terry tells Nancy of his suspicions of the Tinos, a Mexican couple posing as scientists who vanished the same night as Dr. Pitt. Nancy and her friends follow a tangled trail of clues that lead to the Florida Keys and finally to Mexico in this suspense-filled story that will thrill readers.

Nancy Drew and her friends visit an old clipper ship in Boston harbor and help Captain Easterly uncover a mystery.

The tale begins over three-hundred years ago, when the Fair People—the goblins, fairies, dragons, and other fabled and fantastic creatures of a dozen lands—fled the Old World for the New, seeking haven from the ways of Man. With them came their precious jewels: diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls... But then the Fair People vanished, taking with them their twelve fabulous treasures. And they remained hidden until now... Across North America, these twelve treasures, over ten-thousand dollars in precious jewels, are buried. The key to finding each can be found within the twelve full color paintings and verses of The Secret. Yet The Secret is much more than that. At long last, you can learn not only the whereabouts of the Fair People's treasure, but also the modern forms and hiding places of their descendants: the Toll Trolls, Maitre D'eamons, Elf Alphas, Tupperwerewolves, Freudian Sylphs, Culture Vultures, West Ghosts and other delightful creatures in the world around us. The Secret is a field guide to them all. Many "armchair treasure hunt" books have been published over the years, most notably Masquerade (1979) by British artist Kit Williams. Masquerade promised a jewel-encrusted golden hare to the first person to unravel the riddle that Williams cleverly hid in his art. In 1982, while everyone in Britain was still madly digging up hedgerows and pastures in search of the golden hare, The Secret: A Treasure Hunt was published in America. The previous year, author and publisher Byron Preiss had traveled to 12 locations in the continental U.S. (and possibly Canada) to secretly bury a dozen ceramic casques. Each casque contained a small key that could be redeemed for one of 12 jewels Preiss kept in a safe deposit box in New York. The key to finding the casques was to match one of 12 paintings to one of 12 poetic verses, solve the resulting riddle, and start digging. Since 1982, only two of the 12 casques have been recovered. The first was located in Grant Park, Chicago, in 1984 by a group of students. The second was unearthed in 2004 in Cleveland by two members of the Quest4Treasure forum. Preiss was killed in an auto accident in the summer of 2005, but the hunt for his casques continues.

Farah's Guide 12th printing has 556 pages, lists 2745 printings of Nancy Drew between 1930 and 1979, including prices on each book and dust jacket. It contains more than 135 photos of the authors and illustrators, models used for the covers, Nancy Drew collectibles and the oddest items associated with the series. For example, the Guide includes a photo of the ledger page used by Mildred Benson to record her sale of the first Nancy Drew story, a copy of the contract between Benson and the Syndicate for Volume #5, copies of letters between Harriet Adams and Mildred Benson, and between Walter Karig and Mildred Benson, and reproduces the earliest known published article mentioning the series (from 1931), among other great Drewobilia. The Guide includes biographies of Drew writers Mildred Wirt Benson, Walter Karig, Nancy Axelrad, Charles Strong, Margaret Scherf, Alma Sasse, George Waller, illustrators Bill Gillies and Rudy Nappi, and more. The front cover is, well shall we say modestly, a masterpiece.